Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Kansas City Zoo Carousel Ride + Train Fail {Summer Bucket List 2013}

We have a membership at the Kansas City Zoo, and we've visited multiple times this year - by ourselves, and with friends and family. Ours is just a basic pass, so we have not taken advantage of the extras like the train, tram, and carousel very often. I knew that Lincoln would enjoy them, though - so riding the train and carousel went on our summer bucket list without a thought!

We were able to visit the zoo one afternoon a couple of weeks ago when the weather was really nice and Daddy was able to come with us. Going all by myself with the kids means no one gets to leave the stroller - but with Daddy along, things are a little more fun.

The kids didn't nap before we set off on our adventure, but I thought maybe the excitement of being out of the house would hold them over. Lincoln was excited to see the "roars" - tigers.

Since our main purpose for the visit was to ride the train and carousel, we didn't see everything on this trip to the zoo. We walked through the Asia section and then hopped through Australia - where Addie has her very own sign.

Think I need to work on those arms. Blergh.

Lincoln was mildly entertained by the birds in the aviary.

Once he had gotten out of the stroller for a closer look, he refused to
go back in. Adelaide also thought that riding in the stroller was
ridiculous, so Andrew and I were each carrying a child while I schlepped
the stroller around, too. Next time I'll probably just wear Addie and
let Lincoln walk with Daddy. There's no way I can keep up with him while holding a baby on my own!

Lincoln enjoyed his Day Out With Thomas adventure last month and he is constantly talking about trains, so we thought the train ride would be a super success.

We got him all fired up, talking about how we would ride on the choo-choo and wouldn't it be oh so much fun!

Everything was all fine and good until we put our stroller up on the baggage car at the back of the train. He started freaking out about his "carchee" (car seat - apparently that's what the stroller is?) and refused to calm down. We got a fun front-row seat and thought, eh, he'll calm down once the train starts moving.

Not so much, unfortunately. He started wailing and crying and begging to get "down" and "out." We had planned to ride the full loop on the train, but ended up getting off after just one stop. And, wouldn't you know - as soon as we got off, he threw a major fit and refused to ride in the stroller - but also refused to get back on the train. So much for that skipping-his-nap-will-be-okay thing. We give up, little person.

In an effort to remain fun parents and accomplish all that we came to do, we hurried toward the carousel. Turns out that parents and kids under 3 ride for free, so at least we didn't have to spend more than the $5 we wasted on the train adventure!

Lincoln wanted nothing to do with riding an animal, even though he's loved it before. We were all in need of a rest anyway, so we just rode in the giant stationary peacock all together, and everything went fine.

After the ride, we booked it toward the exit. I tried to be brave and let Lincoln stop to check out Nikita, the zoo's awesome polar bear. He really enjoyed seeing the bear swim, but neither kid was in the mood to pose for a photo with Mom afterwards.

By the time we got to the car, everyone was close to full-on meltdown mode, but they thankfully slept a bit on the way home and we were relieved to have escaped without a complete disaster. Next time we try a new experience, it will be post-nap for sure.